hand of the day/the importance of note taking

poker - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (UTG): 233.4 BB
CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 20.09, PFR: 13.73, 3Bet Preflop: 6.28, Hands: 2,915)
BTN: 160.69 BB (VPIP: 22.11, PFR: 13.98, 3Bet Preflop: 3.50, Hands: 16,099)
SB: 33.5 BB (VPIP: 30.23, PFR: 13.95, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 46)
BB: 88.99 BB (VPIP: 50.65, PFR: 21.96, 3Bet Preflop: 9.66, Hands: 392)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 7 8 2 6

Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, BTN raises to 10.5 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (22.5 BB, 2 players) 2 K 5
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (22.5 BB, 2 players) 8
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (22.5 BB, 2 players) A
Hero checks, BTN bets 12 BB, Hero calls 12 BB

BTN shows J T Q 9 (High Card, Ace) (Pre 59%, Flop 58%, Turn 20%)
Hero shows 7 8 2 6 (Two Pair, Eights and Twos) (Pre 41%, Flop 42%, Turn 80%)
Hero wins 44.18 BB

this is a loose raise UTG.  I'm making it because the guys behind me don't often sqz and the players in the blinds are weak.  But in a tough game I think folding with the dangler is probably correct.

of course I get squeezed, so obviously this isn't the desired result.  Folding pf wouldn't be awful, but I think villains very tight 3bet range will allow me to navigate the flop relatively easily.  Plus I can actually rep a wider range on flops when he checks back.

on the flop I've basically missed and my plan is to x/f.  If I had a flush draw I would consider x/r'ing or x/'cing depending on player type, and against this player I'd probably x/c.  However villain to my surprise x's back which means I get to see a free turn.

On the turn I pick up an OESD to go with my two pair.  I almost certainly have the best hand and probably should lead.  For some reason in this hand I made the mistake of checking.  I think my thought process was that if I bet I would get called often and find myself making a tough decision on the river.  Also if I got raised I would like the range I would be facing as villain in this particular hand is very tight for raising the turn and will occasionally slow play a nuts+draw type hand (ie KKdd).  That being said a bet is clearly in order and I screwed up by checking.

when we get to the river I obviously don't love that card.  On one hand it completes a straight draw that neither of us are likely to have.  On the other hand it smacks most tight players value 3betting range (ie AAxx).  A lot of regulars at this level would often play dry AAxx like this on the flop, and occasionally stuff like AQJ5ds that didn't want to have to b/f the flop.  But really I'm mostly worried about AAxx.  So villain bets, and I'm trying to decide whether or not to call so I check my notes and I quickly get the answer.

- doesn't 3bet most AAxx, almost all 3bets IP are rundowns
- doesn't go for thin value.

so right away villain basically has no value hand and I'm always good.  I click call and win a pot.  The hand itself was pretty easy for me to play thanks to villains bad flop play (check back).  So there isn't anything super instructive in a vacuum.  However it does illustrate how taking notes on range construction can help make your life much much easier.  Most players biggest leaks are in range construction whether preflop or post.  And while these tells are always as easy to exploit as a more obvious bet sizing or timing tell, they may be more valuable in the long run. 

best of luck at the tables

jim  

PLO hand of the day

Poker $100 Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 5 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: $123.27
UTG: $93.50
CO: $347.01
Hero (BTN): $100.00
SB: $217.69

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BTN with 4 T 4 A
2 folds, Hero raises to $3, SB calls $2.50, BB calls $2

Flop: ($9.00) 4 A 8 (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $8.55, Hero calls $8.55, SB folds

Turn: ($26.10) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $20, BB calls $20

River: ($66.10) 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $51, BB calls $51

Final Pot: $168.10
BB mucks A 6 6 K (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows 4 T 4 A (three of a kind, Fours)
Hero wins $165.10
(Rake: $3.00)

villain in the hand is a TAG semi-regular.  He's playing 26/16/3 (vpip/pfr/3b%) which is fairly nitty considering he's only winning at the flop 31% of the time.  Basically he's lost when he doesn't have the nuts, and probably not running big bluffs.

SB is a 73/22/15 LAGfish.  He can be tough to play IP because he's going to try and hit every flop, but he's actually not bluffing that much.  Mostly he's trying to flop some equity and ram and jam.

on the flop when the BB leads I'm probably well ahead of his range due to the A blocker and the fact that he doesn't have nor would he lead a ton of 88xx.  But I don't want to raise because I'm going to fold out many of his bluffs and weaker hands, and I'm going to block SB from the pot and there is some chance he x/r's and gets it in with 2pr or some kind of draw+pair.  If I'm up against a combo draw and I raise the flop I'm stuck trying to guess on a ton of turns when I have no idea if my villain has spiked his draw.  so calling the flop seems best.

on the turn when villain checks I feel confident I'm almost always ahead.  if he had a straight he'd almost certainly bet unless he had a high FD to go with it (in which case he might check to induce).  But there aren't too many combos of J-K high flush draws that also have 52 in them.  Basically villains range is probably capped at a few combos of 88 (most of which would keep betting or would have x/r'd the flop) and some two pair hands.  So I'm betting the turn for value and protection, and I think I have to call it off if he x/r's as I would expect some NFD+pair hands might.

When villain x/c's the turn I'm certain I'm ahead.  Now it's a case of trying to get value from whatever two pair hands villain might have.  I think if I snap pot I'm going to look like AA or 52 which I have plenty of in my range.  If I bet really small I look like I'm trying to induce a crying call which actually might scare away some hands.  But a large bet that isn't pot after a tank looks a lot like missed clubs.  I don't think villain gives me credit for betting two pair (I would probably bet A9 on the river but A8 is close as it blocks so many of villains worse made hands) so in his eyes my value range is actually fairly small in this spot.  I think he should be calling most good two pair hands, and x/r'ing any straight.  But his given hand is a pretty easy fold as it's far enough down in his range where it is a pure bluff catcher in a place where I have enough value hands that he doesn't need to call this wide.

comment if you found this interesting and I may keep posting hands.

later

piz

to continue blogging...

not sure if I will.  I kind of don't want to see this thing die.  quick update:

1. I played PLO full time for the last half of 2013.  I had some success.  Not any worth bragging about.  I'm stuck playing small stakes due to size of roll and my relatively poor understanding of the game (despite having played about 350k hands of it in the last 6 months of the year).  If I continue to play poker full time in the future I think most all of my play online will be PLO.  I lost interest in studying NLHE and I felt as though I was getting behind the curve.  Added to the fact that I find the environment around online NLHE cash games to be utterly toxic right now, and I really am not that interested in going back into it.  That being said I totally respect the guys that are at the top of that player pool right now, and I think for the right person that is willing to go after it there is still a lot of money to be made.  I had that kind of passion for the game 3-4 years ago.  After black friday and the aftermath I'd say my passion for NLHE mostly died at the beginning of 2013.

2.  I had a nice season of baseball playing in a couple of leagues.  I mostly closed for a few teams, but I did start a handful of games.  I pitch well with a low ERA, WHIP, and something like a 4-1 K/BB ratio with close to 1.5 Ks/IP.  My velocity has dropped due to lingering arm issues.  My arm slot has also dropped.  I also have to deal with a lot of pain now when I throw.  Other than serious surgery and rehab I'm not sure that this a problem I can fix.  But I'm going to keep playing as long as I can be effective.

3.  I failed in my attempt to learn some stats software and/or some programming language.  Mostly I found myself frustrated at either my poor understanding of the lessons (ie I was a beginner and I was being taught at an intermediate level) or my relative lack of interest in the subject matter.  How this impacts my long term career plans I don't really know.  Mostly because I haven't really formulated any long term career plans, but partially because many of the things I'm interested in would require me to add a lot of tools to my relatively bare tech tool box.

4.  The wife is doing very well.  She is a very private person so I won't go into details, but she's a rock star and continues to move towards the top of her field.  Needless to say I brag about her to anyone that will listen. 

I'm going to try and post some 2014 goals in a future post.  And maybe I'll start posting and discussing PLO hands.  I think the blog is a nice way to connect with people, and more importantly it helps add some structure to my personal history.  It's nice to be able to look back at posts I made or people's comments and help color my memories or add context to certain events.

hope any potential readers are doing well, and best of luck to everybody in the coming year.

Jim aka thepizzlefosho

Good Advice